38 Responses

But this submission process is open to all New Zealanders, and I’m asking for your help.

I'm in. I was in Christchurch over the weekend and I was first shocked by what I saw and then angry. It was my first visit since November 2010 and when James is saying "we still have whole city blocks that look like something out of the Balkan conflict" it is no exaggeration. The city centre is akin to a vast parking lot with odd buildings dotted about.

My brother visiting from Northern Ireland was also stunned, the more so since he went to Haiti after its big quake. In his view what he saw in Christchurch was not worthy of a developed nation.

I appreciate that there is more going on than might meet the eye but the Christchurch rebuild is an ongoing scandal. Which, remember, all New Zealanders are paying for through taxation. We should, and must, get involved.

On CERA's extensive communication staff on Sunday I was speaking to someone in Cathedral Square from a market research company who was asking for people's opinions about the city centre on behalf of CERA. Her questions weren't structured but more around what more information would be useful. I spent about 10 minutes bending the poor girl's ear about how shocked I was at the lack of progress.

I concur: We are not past hearing about Christchurch but many of us who don't live there feel powerless to do anything. (I imagine many who live there feel the same way - in a rather more visceral way). The question is: what can we do to help?

Will definitely make a submission - and encourage everyone I know to do so. But yeah, the CERA form is ballocks. What I would prefer is a chance to 'vote' on prefered options (no mention of 3+ or any others - except perhaps in the linked pdfs). People (me included) are unlikely to read chapters of CERA's opinion of what the issues and options are before giving an 'informed' opinion. We know the sort of things we want - we 'shared an idea' three bloody years ago (and it was pretty much ignored.) It's no wonder business development in central Chch is stalled. CERA don't really know what they want. King Brownlee has definite opinions which he is happy to air, which mostly aren't official rules or requirements, but who knows, they could be, he has the power. The CCC clearly don't want what the CCDU and/or Brownlee want. And they have their own set of rules and requirements.Who'd want to sink millions into that pit of uncertainty?

Another one for the not sick of hearing about Christchurch, want to hear more and to help where one can

With the lose of CampbellLive a very important source of Christchurch story telling and new has vanished so please more of this here and on your own blog James - much appreciated the efforts you and so many other do on behalf of the city and its people!

Have submitted (so to speak). Was polite, but it took a lot of effort to edit polite into what I wanted to say. They emailed me a copy of it, 900 words, which is kinda scary for a basically "give the locals control" submission.

Summary:

The council needs more power to override central government inertia.

I suggest flipping most of the powers, and allow the council to take action against the minister when he doesn't carry out his duties appropriately. When a plan is made the council should be able to influence the plan, and once it's committed to they should be able to force the minister to implement it. They should also be able to force the minister to come up with a plan when he doesn't do so, and the alternative should be that the council can implement their plan using the minister's budget. Simply saying "council can complain about ministerial inaction" hasn't worked.

On Thursday morning I was in bed with my phone, crying as I read news report after news report about the deadly shooting at French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo.But when I came across a French satirical news show’s take on the event, a reluctant chuckle escaped me.The show is called Les Guignols de l’Info – “The News Puppets" – and features spoof alter-egos of newsmakers, and a lot of swearing. The evening after the shooting, the show featured French president Francois Hollande’s puppet lamenting the cartoonists loss: “I want Charlie Hebdo to keep ridiculing me, I want them to draw me with a fat belly and a small willy again.”The presenter responded: “True. Charlie Hebdo doesn’t only do caricatures."

and

Satire is a vital and ingrained part of French media. As such, most of my French Facebook friends changed their profile picture to “I am Charlie” on Thursday. Many expressed their shock and support for freedom of expression.The French declaration of human rights, which has constitutional value, states: “The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man.”In addition, the Press Law guarantees freedom of the press, subject to exceptions including incitement to hatred, discrimination, slander and racial insults. This includes the freedom to ridicule powerful figures. And Charlie Hebdo did just that. They poked fun at pretty much everyone and everything, from Michael Jackson to Muhammad, politicians, Jesus and the Pope – no-one was safe. They did this to make people laugh and show that nothing should be taken too seriously, not even religion.

I was kinda appalled by Cecile Meier’s folding on this issue – especially in light of her impassioned plea for the freedom to express ideas and outrage earlier in the year

Thanks for making that connection. Surely one's permitted to wonder just how they went about making La Meier one of "us". At least John McCrone hasn't been "got to" yet by whatever sniffily cynical cabal decides these things when they're not compiling Chch "power lists".

From the Press's recent impassioned sighing over Simon Barnett's "dad bod" it's plain that the vacuum from Bob Parker's distant implosion still casts its hollow spell. As for the CERA communication team, do they really do anything apart from click down derogatory comments about Gerry while troughing from the same muffin mine that the Press once scolded the poor old Parkeress for helping herself to?

I was there last week. I was appalled at how little – still – had been done since I’d been there a couple of years ago. A sea of “car parks”. A couple of bridges finished out by New Brighton. Great – but only just completed? Holy hell.

Also, a complex web submission form and no public meetings? That sounds inclusive of the less-technologically enabled among us, not.

The ever reliable Rod Oram’s column from yesterday’s SST is relevant – http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/70516151/Rod-Oram-The-great-rates-debate . (Why is it that it is so incredibly difficult to access articles on Stuff? Surely a search for Rod’s columns should give a list in date order descending from the last one, not random stuff from 2009. As the only worthwhile part of the whole paper a little more support would not go astray.)

(Why is it that it is so incredibly difficult to access articles on Stuff? Surely a search for Rod's columns should give a list in date order descending from the last one, not random stuff from 2009. As the only worthwhile part of the whole paper a little more support would not go astray.)

Your link gave me what effectively is yet another plug for Whittaker's chocolate posing as a news story. I suspect that partly answers the question of why finding the thin vein of real stuff has gotten so tricky.